1903: Today saw an extension to Peterborough's growing tram network when the service to Newark began, the trams travelling along the Eastfield Road. The driver - the motorman - had to stand in an open area to drive the tram and was exposed to all weathers. He worked a ten-hour shift, six days a week, at a rate of 5d an hour, which provided him with a weekly wage of 25s. (Peterborough Advertiser)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
Andrew Percival came to Peterborough from Northampton to start his professional career. He went on to become a prominent citizen and he has left us a unique record of the transformation of Peterborough in the 19th century, his "Notes on Old Peterborough".
When he arrived the population was 6,000. There were no railways; no cars; no gas; the bridge was a “shabby, ramshackle concern”. There were toll booths all round the town; barges were found in great abundance on the Nene; there were two large breweries in the centre of town; the hospital was a private house; sedan chairs flourished; Whittlesey Mere was “charming for skating”; Long Causeway was a smelly cattle market.
The 1841 census was not the first national census, but it is the earliest census in England in which an effort was made to record the name and location of every single person in the country on the same night. It is loved by genealogists and historians alike as providing the names of people born in the eighteenth century, those lucky enough to survive into the reign of Queen Victoria, along with their approximate age and location. Unlike later census records, the details provided by householders are vague and easy to interpret incorrectly. Ages, for example, were rounded up or down to multiples of five and birth information only asked if someone was from that county or not.
Every house in England was sent an enumeration form in June 1841 and asked to complete it, where possible, to indicate who was living in their household on the night of 6th June. Enumerators were sent to collect the forms after the date and they were able to assist any illiterate people in completing theirs. The forms were collected and painstakingly rewritten into the enumerators' books by pencil. The original forms were destroyed but the enumerators' books were kept; they were digitised and are available to view now. Obvious issues with the books are that they were written in pencil, much of it being too faint to be easily copied and were written by lots of different people whose penmanship varied.
The Peterborough 1841 census contains several well-known figures including Thomas Alderson Cooke in the building that is now Peterborough Museum and Dr Thomas Walker. Dr Walker's entry suggests he was born in 1797 and works as a surgeon; an 'S' in the 'Where Born' column tells us that he was from Scotland, along with two other people on the same page. His wife Mary is from the county as well as their seven children who include 4-day-old Mary Isabella Walker.
Other people on the page include William Fisher, who was working as a Toll Collector and Confectioner John Newcome. The census can help historians studying Peterborough to discover what employment was available in the city and what was special about Peterborough's industry. Other notable people include Baptist Preacher Samuel Wright, Bone Seller George Palmer, Muffin Maker Ann Jarvis and Veterinary Surgeon Robert Richardson.
You can access the census collection for free in any Peterborough library.
References
1841 Census accessed on Ancestry
Andrew Percival came to Peterborough from Northampton to start his profe…